Ambridge Tournament opens doors

By Darren Myers
Photo Editor

The girl’s soccer team kicked their way into first place at the Ambridge Tournament. They are the only team from Burrell to win this tournament. The boys and girls teams have gone there for the past four or five years. They beat Ambridge (1-0) and Trinity (2-1) on their way to win it all. Head Coach Javier Gomez-Calderon and first year Coach Ashton Graham were thrilled with the way their team played.

This win may have been a surprise to many people because the team lost seven starting seniors last year due to graduation. That is a difficult obstacle for any team to overcome. Because of all the injuries that occurred last year, the team was to some extent prepared for this season. This season the Lady Bucs have nine seniors. They are Brittany Bice, Adrianne Damico, Brooke Eaton, Taylor Garrison, Jenna Hersteck, Hanna Hoover, Morgan Sharick, Jaycie Sluss, and Ashley Wolfhope, of these seniors, five of them start. The team had some doubt about how good they would be so it came as a shock when an opportunity at winning Ambridge came their way.

The captains of the team are Seniors Brooke Eaton, Jenna Herstek, Morgan Sharick, and Junior Abby Streblick. For Captain Brooke Eaton, winning the Ambridge Tournament was a big deal. Eaton believed that Ambridge was a stepping point in learning what positions work out for which person. This obviously worked out in the best way.

When asked about the team this season Brooke commented “We are a young team and I am impressed with how everyone has played.”
The championship was a great accomplishment for the whole team but for Freshman Jenna Ehrlich it was even more of a big deal. Ehrlich either starts or is a substitute for the varsity team. What makes it more special is that she recorded one goal during the tournament.

When asked how much more difficult high school soccer is than playing Tri-City, Jenna stated “I didn’t have to try as hard for Tri-City but now that I am in high school I have to work harder because the girls are older than I am and have a lot more experience.”

Springdale is most likely the team’s toughest opponent this year. When asked about playing Springdale most players said that if they beat them it would be an accomplishment. Unfortunately though for the Burrell team, they lost 3-0 in their game against Springdale. Hopefully they can pull it together and win sections. The home games are at Bon-Air Elementary School so go and cheer on the team!